Every 25th of the month is commemorated to draw attention to the elimination of violence against women and girls. In April, the theme for Orange Day is the elimination of violence against indigenous women and girls.

(25 April 2017) -- In April, the Orange Day is dedicated to eradicating violence against indigenous women and girls. This is a particularly complex challenge in Latin America and the Caribbean considering the many forms of violence they face: from daily discrimination to extreme forms of violence, such as the murder of the Honduran activist, feminist and indigenous leader Berta Cáceres in March 2016.

In the region, there are 522 indigenous populations who speak 420 different languages indigenous peoples represent between 3% and 10% of the population of Latin American and Caribbean countries, totalling 45 million people. Half of this population are women. (1)

The Orange Day is commemorated every 25th of the month in the framework of the UN Secretary General’s Campaign "UNiTE to End Violence against Women".

This month, Otilia Lux de Coti, , a renowned Mayan leader and activist of Guatemala and Executive Director of the International Forum of Indigenous Women Tania Pariona Tarqui, a Quechan Peruvian Congresswoman and member of the Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas and Tarcila Rivera Zea, member of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues of the United Nations and founder of the non-governmental organization CHIRAPAQ, Center of Indigenous Cultures of Peru, analyze the many forms of violence suffered by indigenous women and girls in the region, and lay out the way forward to eradicate them.

"We prefer to speak of “violences”, in plural," Rivera Zea clarifies in an interview with UN Women.

"’Violences’ in plural speaks of the need and urgency to link the violence that indigenous women face with our individual and collective rights. In this plurality, discrimination and racism act as an umbrella that covers other forms of violence, which happen in the face of States and citizens that tend to invisibilize and ignore the indigenous peoples.”

These multiple forms of violence, adds the founder of CHIRAPAQ, lead to militarization of territories, human trafficking, use of pesticides and rape of indigenous women and girls. It also emphasizes the negative impact of extractive industries on communities and their interlinkage to environmental violence and the denial of sexual and reproductive health to indigenous women.

For Otilia Lux de Coti, one of the main issues is institutional violence against indigenous women and girls, since this holds back their full development and empowerment.

"Violence, discrimination and racism are scourges that prevent the full development of indigenous women and girls," says Lux de Coti, "institutional violence is particularly evident when we consider that the rule of law is not equal for all citizens".

In a context of strong institutional discrimination, the case of Sepur Zarco stands out as the first instance globally where a sentence was handed out for sexual and labor slavery perpetrated against indigenous women. A year after the sentencing, Otilia recalls the case in which two former members of the Guatemalan military were found guilty of war crimes, crimes of sexual slavery, rape, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment and discrimination against 11 indigenous women living around the Sepur Zarco detachment between 1982 and 1983.

Lux de Coti points out that key to ending this pandemic in the region is challenging social norms that reproduce gender stereotypes and racism and strengthening normative frameworks that tolerate discrimination against indigenous women and girls.

Tania Pariona Tarqui adds: “Aside from physical and psychological violence, torture, sexual violence and rape during armed conflict, indigenous women are excluded from decision making and must endure abuse of authority, including in communal assemblies, which are consultative meetings convened by the State.”

The problem is expressed in practices of physical elimination of indigenous populations, appropriation of their territories, displacement, destruction of their cultures, and in the case of indigenous women, invasion of their bodies. Sexual violence against indigenous women has long been a practice by various actors, including State actors. Indigenous women, particularly those living in rural areas, in contexts of inequality, exclusion and extreme poverty, are also affected by internal armed conflicts, in which many have not only lost their belongings, but also their families and their physical integrity. (1)

"The matter is serious not only because of the figures but also because of the impunity and indifference, although society has begun to express its rejection with much more strength in recent years," adds Rivera Zea.

"The forced prostitution of wayuu girls in Venezuela, female mutilation in Colombia, cases of femicide, the high rates of early pregnancies in Peru and other countries in the region, as well as the assassination and persecution of indigenous women defenders of collective rights demand concrete actions and decisions ".

Addressing the issue is not about going against indigenous cultures, according to the Peruvian activist, but challenging cultural practices that reproduce this violence against indigenous women and girls.

"Many experiences that are a source of resistance against violence, based on our own indigenous references, focus on the valorization and revaluation of traditional knowledge, identity strengthening and prioritization of being and collective well-being”.

"We must not go against our cultures, but against cultural practices that hurt us and violate our human rights as indigenous women."

(1) Violence and Indigenous Women, document prepared by CHIRAPAC for CSW16.

Source: http://lac.unwomen.org/en/noticias-y-eventos/articulos/2017/04/dia-naranja-llama-atencion-sobre-las-violencia-contra-las-mujeres-indigenas

Tebtebba (Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education) based in the Philippines, gathered 19 indigenous women and representatives from  indigenous peoples’ and non-government organizations working for Indigenous Peoples in relation to climate change and related matters in Bangladesh, Bhutan,  Burma , Cambodia, Fiji,  India, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam, to the Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop  on Indigenous Peoples  and Gender Responsive Emissions Reduction Programs held on 25-27 February 2017 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The activity was co-organized with the Center for Upland Development (CERDA) based in Hanoi, Vietnam. The workshop was organized to:

1)     Provide an overview of the UNDRIP, the UNFCC and REDD+ initiatives and how these intersects with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which is global in implementation and in the context of empowering women;

2)     Define gaps and challenges in indigenous women’s engagements in national and local REDD+ /climate change and development initiatives;

3)     Unite on a common engagement platform for indigenous women in REDD+ countries in the Asia-Pacific region to feed into the Capacity Building on REDD+ for Forest Dependent  Indigenous Peoples in  East Asia, Pacific and South Asia Regions Project and other advocacy spaces; and

4)     Provide a venue for project partners’ inception meeting.

The workshop kicked off with a review of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as the overarching framework with an emphasis on indigenous women and peoples not just as stakeholders but as rights holders. A briefing on the REDD+ highlighting the Cancun Safeguards resulting from indigenous peoples’ proactive engagement at the global UNFCCC processes was also provided. 

The discussion on indigenous women in REDD+ countries in the region began with participants from Vanuatu, Nepal and Vietnam presenting their experiences as part of the CSO National Platforms. This has generated discussions on the situation of indigenous women and their communities with regards to climate change.

Highlights from the Interactive Discussions and Workshops

Coming from different countries of varying stages in RED+ implementation, the participants brought with them varied experiences regarding REDD+, from “just beginning” (Cambodia) to ‘advanced’ engagements (i.e Fiji, Nepal and Vietnam).  Nonetheless, workshop results point to three major issues affecting the full and effective participation of indigenous women in this process:

1. Non-recognition of indigenous peoples, especially indigenous women, and the particularities attached to their identities, the significance of their knowledge, roles and practices in emissions reduction and climate resilience.  Where there exist a legal framework addressing indigenous peoples’ rights, comprehension by state agencies is weak resulting to ineffective operationalization on the ground ( i.e Philippines). An interesting exemption is Fiji where most of the state constituency are indigenous peoples.
2. Zero and/or weak indigenous women/peoples’ institutions/organizations.  In some FCPF Countries, there are no strong indigenous women’s organizations among self-identifying indigenous peoples (i.e Vietnam, Bhutan). Where there are indigenous and women’s organizations, participation can be sporadic due to equally pressing work and interests, geographical scope and issues of technical and logistical access and lack of personnel to follow on or fully engage on the REDD+ work. Specifically, for indigenous women, their participation is also affected by the intersecting factors of gender discrimination, lack of awareness, resources, support and self confidence that results from the experience of historical discrimination as peoples and as women. These on top of women’s poverty, both in terms of resources and time.  At a skills level, there is a general need to strengthen capacities for documentation and evidence-based advocacy to influence directions of REDD+/ERPs at the local and national levels.

Good Practice: In Vietnam, CERDA, in partnership with Tebtebba and with support generated from the NORAD, established community cooperatives and the alliance of co-operatives after a series of institutional development activities. It is thru the cooperatives that we were able to be recognized by the government as a legal entity. Through the cooperative, we do a lot of capacity building on understanding and addressing the serious problem of illegal logging, REDD+, livelihoods and how these intersects with our rights, including continuing institutional development. The registration of the co-operative, under government rules gave it a legal status making the communities eligible to  participate in REDD+ as an independent actor with  ownership of their initiatives and actions. Being a recognized entity, we were able to secure community tenure of the forest for at least 50 years. With an organization and the association of co-operatives and the landscape based approach, enhanced capacities and skills and livelihood support, the community has been successful and cost-effective in protecting the forest against illegal logging so far.  CERDA’s households cluster approach was cited as instrumental in enhancing women’s participation in these initiatives. (Ms Vu Thi Hien) 

1. Lack of access to appropriate and full information. There exist inconsistencies, fragmentation and insufficiency of information from the national level initiation and implementation on the ground.  At the local level, there is a seeming disconnect of information provided on the relationships between the REDD+ and other information dissemination and capacity building initiatives undertaken for this phase. In some areas, information dissemination has been conducted without due consideration of the capacity of the communities to understand what is being said and women are not encouraged to speak. The usual practice of focusing information dissemination to village leaders has also been cited as reinforcing women’s marginalization since leadership and decision making in most indigenous communities are male-dominated.
2. Lack of resources and support services to enable indigenous women and peoples’ participation and engagement with the process. Most of the participants are part of the national CSO platforms and most of their work in this area are voluntary. While most would like to engage their constituents in the process, there is limited funds directly accessible to do this. Where there are available spaces for access, the process and requirements are difficult for indigenous women and their organizations to comply with. This, according to the participants, is demoralizing.

Good Practice: Fiji recognizes indigenous peoples’ ownership of their lands which is a big problem for their Asian neighbors. Participant expressed appreciation of the REDD+ provision specific on indigenous women and peoples and CSO participation and the fact that the advocacy and capacity building phase have been well resourced in terms of expertise and funding.  According to Ms. Haddy Jatou Sey of the FCPF, this was a result of the FCPF’s extensive dialogue with the Fiji government to allocate part of the U$D3.8 M budget to the CSO platform. This was done during the design phase of the program.

From the discussions is a document (see below) containing the position of indigenous women from Asia-Pacific on REDD+/ERPs.

----------o0o ----------

DIGENOUS PEOPLES AND GENDER RESPONSIVE EMMISSIONS REDUCTION PROGRAM:

A CALL BY INDIGENOUS WOMEN IN ASIA AND PACIFIC

Indigenous Peoples contributions to sustaining the earth and its resources and mankind’s cultural, intellectual, political and economic development has been recognized in different international processes and agreements including the Paris Agreement and the Cancun Safeguards under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and the Sustainable Development Goals. This recognition implies the need to strengthen and enhance indigenous peoples’ knowledge, skills and practice in conservation and use of lands, waters, forests and natural resources which are key to the vision of Agenda 2030. For indigenous peoples, these calls for the full and effective operationalization of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the local level.

 Indigenous women’s knowledge and multiple roles from the domestic to the collective/community level   encompasses their daily activities and relationships to the land as stewards.  Honoring the land which sustains life obliges indigenous peoples, especially women, to ensure the integrity of their territories for future generation. However, historical discrimination and patriarchy prevails rendering them generally invisible in the current global discussions and national-local initiatives on sustainable development and climate change, including the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation REDD+/Emissions Reduction Programs (ERPs), among others.

We are 19 indigenous women and representatives from indigenous peoples’ and non-government organizations working for Indigenous Peoples in relation to climate change and related matters in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma , Cambodia, Fiji,  India, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vanuatu and Vietnam, participating in  the Asia-Pacific Regional Workshop  on Indigenous Peoples  and Gender Responsive Emissions Reduction Programs held on 25-27 February 2017 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Having shared our situations  in our  vision to advance  the status of indigenous women, we are forwarding the following concerns and recommendations to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, the national REDD+ Working Groups, CSO National Platforms, to our own organizations and communities and to other concerned groups and agencies to ensure compliance to the REDD+ safeguards consistent to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the substantive achievement of Agenda 2030.

A. SUSTAINING CLIMATE RESILIENCE

With knowledge practices and developed through generations, indigenous women continue to ensure and sustain the lives, land and resources of their communities and the future generation but remain discriminated in the ownership and control of lands, forests and resources. The right to own, manage and control   land, forests and resources are primary factors in indigenous women’s livelihood, community well-being and food security. The recognition of these rights is crucial in sustaining emissions reduction initiatives and actions.

State and business interests like extractive industries, palm oil plantations, hydropower dams, including environmental conservation and protection initiatives have encroached into our lands resulting to deforestation, erosion of biodiversity, land, knowledge, culture and spirituality.

Conflicts continue to emerge in this situation galvanized by militarization as a peace and order strategy employed by state and private sectors exposing women and children to gender violence and human rights violations. This has and is displacing us physically, economically, socially and culturally impacting on our right to self-determination and governance as indigenous peoples.

1.      Institutionalize Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment under the REDD+ /ERP at all levels.

2.      Tenurial reform which should be done in respect of indigenous peoples’ right to their ancestral lands, territories and resources. State agencies should provide resources to delineate indigenous peoples’ territories through mapping, resolve existing disputes and provide security of tenure ensuring effective consultation and participation of indigenous peoples and transparency in the process.  Specifically, reforms should address the status of land tenure among indigenous women and provide legal remedies and mechanism to address security of land tenure for indigenous women. Conflicting laws/policies/programs that impedes the full operationalization of indigenous women and peoples’ right to their customary lands and resources should be addressed by REDD+ Strategies and Actions. State commitment to these should be monitored.

3.      Governments to conduct strategic social and environmental assessment as part of the readiness and ERP design to address the issue of land tenure, especially for indigenous women and institutionalize an accessible process or mechanism to facilitate security of tenure  and  put in place preventive  actions against eviction and displacement as part of the Safeguards Information System.

4.      As part of the feasibility study of governments, social and environmental assessment and due diligence should be undertaken to ensure that private initiatives in the name of emissions reduction are consistent with the right to free prior and informed consent.

B. CAPACITY BUILDING

Our capacities to fully and effectively engage as women and as indigenous peoples in state and other initiatives related to climate change, REDD+ and sustainable development, remain limited due to various intersecting factors among which are the lack of appropriate information, resources and support which are reinforcing traditional and behavioral gender barriers.

Strengthening indigenous women’s agencies and/or institutions and indigenous peoples’ communities and organizations as a whole is crucial to be able to articulate, operationalize and negotiate our visions of sustained climate resilience and inclusive development. This includes better understanding of the context of indigenous women’s marginalization among REDD+ actors and addressing  this within and among indigenous organizations/communities and in the broader social context. Capacity building is a two-way process.

1. Institutionalize investment in processes that ensures the strengthening and institutional development of indigenous women and peoples’ organizations. These processes should be designed to provide a means through which state agencies and other stakeholders learn from the specific situations of indigenous women and peoples towards more informed interventions and actions.
2. Provide time, resources and create spaces in REDD+ strategies and actions to raise the awareness of indigenous women on their rights as women and as indigenous peoples and how these are/are not translated into state policies, regulations and programs related to forests, the REDD+ and ERP.
3. REDD+ initiatives and actions should address the intersectionalities of gender discrimination and provide enabling spaces for indigenous women for full and effective participation in all levels.  Governments should allocate adequate time and resources to enable meaningful consultations and dialogues with indigenous women through targeted consultations specially those who are directly impacted by the REDD+ initiatives, to provide   timely, full, adequate and appropriate information to enable understanding how it impacts on their rights as women and indigenous peoples, including benefits and risks,  as a primary process towards free and prior informed consent.
4. REDD+ Actions should facilitate recognition of and strengthen the protection and advancement of the rights, knowledge and roles of indigenous women in climate mitigation and adaptation, emissions reduction, resource management and conservation and sustainable development.
5. Direct access to funds and resources by indigenous women and their organizations/agencies in support of their own local/community emissions reduction initiatives, livelihoods, appropriate technology and innovation. Current standards, requirements and processes to access grants should be simplified or mechanisms installed to accommodate direct access by indigenous women’s organizations/agencies.
6. REDD+ actions should include organizing and equipping indigenous women and their communities to access and effectively manage resources, implement projects and programs  through skills development workshops on popular education methods and approaches, project proposal development and fund-raising as well as organizational and finance management.

C. GOVERNANCE: PARTICIPATION, MONITORING AND BENEFIT SHARING

Indigenous women are most often left out of public life and decision making because of their poverty in time caused by their multiple roles and responsibilities in the family and in the community. Existing practices and approaches may not necessarily apply effectively among indigenous women where the work and agricultural cycle, spiritual and other socio-cultural and community matters have to be considered

1. Readiness and ERP designs should include targeted consultation processes and capacity building activities for indigenous women and peoples including providing ample time, resources and spaces specific for indigenous women to be able to participate fully and effectively  in decision making processes from local to national levels and in all project phases and processes from conceptualization, design, implementation, evaluation and benefit sharing, including  IP and gender sensitive grievance mechanism;.
2. Provide spaces and enabling resources for indigenous women representation at the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility’s Participants Committee level. Where REDD+ initiatives and interventions involve indigenous peoples, the FCPF - PC should ensure the participation of indigenous women representative/s from the country under review.
3. Ensure the gender analysis of REDD+/ERP design, implementation, evaluation and benefit – sharing using culture-sensitive and gender responsive approaches with the active engagement of indigenous women.

            MONITORING

1. Institutionalize gender assessment in the SESA towards the development of specific Gender Action Plans and indicators for monitoring of REDD+ from strategies to activities, including benefits.

2. Allocate resources for the development of culture sensitive gender indicators in consultation with indigenous women  in consideration of their  knowledge, roles and other contributions to sustaining community well-being viz ecological resilience and emissions reduction and ensure  that these are reflected in the  safeguards and benefit sharing plans of all ERP design documents.

3. As part of the national monitoring system, governments, in consultation with indigenous peoples, to develop culturally appropriate and gender-specific indicators for monitoring community based activities and livelihoods.

4. Provide resources for the creation of an independent international monitoring and evaluation process that includes experts from indigenous women/peoples results of which should be directly communicated to the communities concerned.

5. Designate independent funding to assess, set-up where needed, and strengthen existing indigenous, gender-sensitive and accessible grievance mechanisms ensuring that indigenous women are represented.

BENEFIT SHARING

Benefits from forests, forest conservation and emissions reduction should not be viewed merely in terms of carbon sequestration and opportunity cost. Based on a longer term perspective of  empowerment and transformation towards sustained, rights-based and gender responsive climate resilient communities, indigenous women and peoples have been articulating the significance of non-carbon benefits from the REDD+/ERP  i.e  recognition of land rights, securing indigenous women and peoples’  land tenure and livelihoods, recognition of and development of indigenous knowledge and management of their territories and resources, adaptive and appropriate technologies and innovation, among others.

1. Gender and women empowerment can result from the REDD+/ERP which can be considered as a benefit.  Addressing traditional and behavioral gender barriers, with the participation of and in full consultation with indigenous women, therefore, should be targeted in all design documents at the global to the local levels.

2. REDD+/ERP strategies and action should establish gender sensitive and disaggregated baselines and a documentation system accessible to and useable for and by indigenous peoples to enable negotiation for equitable benefit sharing.

3. Design equitable, gender-sensitive benefit-sharing mechanisms with due respect to existing indigenous institutions  and in full consideration  of advancing the status of indigenous women.

-------------------   o0o   ---------------------